Description

KINGS NYMPTON
SS 62 SE
1/117 East Hele Farmhouse
20.2.67
- II
Farmhouse. Late C16 or early C17 but possibly earlier fabric concealed, much altered
in C20. Part rendered stone rubble and cob. Hipped thatched roof. Tall front
lateral stone rubble hall stack, brought to courses with offsets and tapered cap.
Rendered stack to gable end of rear wing, and demolished stack at right end.
Plan: A possible longhouse type of 3 rooms and through-passage, the long lofted
lower end to left used as outbuilding within living memory. Wing of single room
plan added to rear right end in late C17. No evidence of hall having been open to
roof but roof structure replaced probably in C18 or C19. Stair turret immediately to
left of through-passage, converted to straight-run staircase, and staircase to right
of parlour stack removed in c20. Additional staircase to rear wing running up rear
wall of inner room. C20 2-storey extension to rear of lower end. Lower end stack
inserted in C20.
Exterior: 2 storeys. 6-window range. 4-light ovolo mullion window to inner room,
C17 2-light timber casement on each floor to right end, and two 2-light timber
casements towards left end. All other fenestration is introduced in C20, re-used
from various North Devon buildings. The fine ovolo moulded through-passage door
surround with 4-leaf and rams horns stops came from Barnstaple. The 2-storey
extension to rear is built to rememble a 2-storey porch and incorporates 2 C17
doorways, on C17 carved string course and carved apex finial from the stables at
Dartmouth Castle. The 1675 dateplaque has also been re-used.
Interior: Much re-used C17 fabric. The original fittings include 2 chamfered hall
cross ceiling beams, chamfered axial ceiling beam to inner room, 4-centred arched
doorway with chamfered surround between hall and inner room, 2 moulded plasterwork
cornices to the rear wing ground floor room and chamber over, the latter with 3
decorative plasterwork panels on each end wall; the wing 'stairhall' also has a
moulded plaster cornice and small central roundel. Both rooms originally had
decorative plasterwork ceilings but these no longer survive. The majority of roll-
moulded door surrounds to the chambers are probably late C17. The remainder of the
fittings, mostly C17, are re-used; the plank and muntin screen on the hall side of
the through-passage came from a house in East Street in South Molton, the leaded
glass and some of the windows from the Blue Coat School in Barnstaple, and the
staircase, panelled window seats and some of the door surrounds from other demolished
Devon buildings. East Hele had remained unoccupied for a number of years until
circa 1980, the previous owner having removed many of the fittings and destroyed the
plaster ceilings.

Listing NGR: SS6709121005

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26444237

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas